PREY

An outspoken critic of Islamic extremism identifies a threat to women's safety.

Women’s rights activist Ali mounts a scathing critique of migrant Muslim men who perpetrate sexual violence against women throughout Europe. Between 2014 and 2017, when immigration increased dramatically, the author provides evidence that rape and sexual assault increased, as well, enacted by men coming from cultures in which women are often exploited. In Muslim-majority countries—like Ali’s native Somalia—women are considered second-class citizens: denied education; confined to their homes for much of the time, allowed outside only when monitored by male family members; and treated as commodities by their fathers and husbands, subjected to “honor violence, female genital mutilation, and forced marriage.” In Europe, men from such contexts repeat sexually aggressive behaviors, “not because they feel inferior or oppressed; it is because they think they can get away with it, just as they did back home.” Fearful of being branded racist or xenophobic, European authorities—and even liberal feminists—tend to deny the problem, offering “poor advice and bogus solutions” that often entail blaming the victims. Although Ali stresses that she does not want to fuel populist arguments for closed borders, she vigorously argues for reforms that will mitigate the "causal connection" between migration and sex crimes. She proposes radical restrictions on immigration to allow entry only to those cognizant of “the culture, laws, and norms of the society they wish to join,” willing to adapt to European liberal values; and to keep out those she calls “menaces” (unemployable, attracted to crime), religious zealots, and “coasters” who will live off welfare benefits and populate segregated ghettos. Migrants who refuse to adapt within a year or two should be deported. At the same time, Ali asserts, Europe must take responsibility to stabilize Muslim countries from which migrants seek to flee.

An impassioned analysis sure to incite controversy.